E-MAIL IMPERSONATION ALLEGED

MONICA POLANCO; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

A city firefighter has been accused of impersonating Fire Chief Mark Carr in an e-mail sent to firefighters in Tucson, Ariz.

Carlos Mera, 38, of East Hampton, turned himself in at the New Britain Police Department Wednesday and was released on a non-surety bond. Charged with criminal impersonation, Mera is scheduled to appear in court May 2.

Mayor Timothy Stewart said he would meet with city administrators today to discuss the disciplinary measures that can be taken against Mera.

"It's a very serious issue and we're obviously going to be looking into it and making sure that appropriate action is taken," Carr said.

Police began investigating after Mera sent an e-mail criticizing Robert DiPietro, a former supervisor who retired from the New Britain Fire Department last year and began working at a fire department in Tucson, Stewart said Thursday.

Mera described DiPietro as a racist and said that he engaged in discriminatory practices, then signed the e-mail with Carr's name and sent the "condescending" message to DiPietro's new supervisors, Stewart said.

Someone at the Tucson department forwarded the e-mail to Carr, prompting a local investigation.

Police traced the e-mail to a computer in West Hartford that belongs to one of Mera's relatives, applied for a warrant and seized it, Stewart said. Mera allegedly sent the e-mail last year - DiPietro retired around September - but police were not able to make an arrest in the case until recently because of other investigatory priorities, Stewart said.

Stewart, a former firefighter, said he was not surprised by the charge against Mera.

Mera, who is of Ecuadorean and Colombian descent, filed a racial discrimination complaint against the city in 2006.

In the complaint, filed with the state's Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, Mera alleged that he was overlooked for promotions for which he was qualified and that white firefighters received those promotions, among other things.

Mera settled the complaint in October, and as part of the settlement, was promoted from a private to the position of driver, earning about $4,000 more a year.